26 February 2011

Prize Ribbon Tutorial

So I have a new calling at church. (For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a "call" to help in one of the LDS church programs.) I'll give you one hint what that calling is:

Woohoo! It's taken me a while for my heart to really be in it, I'll be honest. When I was asked if I would be willing to help in the scouting program I was told that my creativity was needed. And until now, I haven't really had many opportunities to use that creativity.

I was put in charge of decorations for the Blue and Gold Banquet this year. Our theme was "Helping Others". The boys cut out templates of their hands, and wrote ways of helping others on each one. We scattered these on each table and had blue and yellow balloon centerpieces. Nothing over-the-top.

The boys brought canned food donations to give to a local pantry.

We also had a cake decorating contest... fathers and sons only. And here's where my creative need was really fulfilled. Because I made the cutest (if I do say so myself) prize ribbons for each participant in the contest.

My husband thought they were too girly. I don't think so, do you? The boys really seemed to appreciate them. And they said they wanted creativity! This is my brand of creativity. ;)

Want to know how to make them? I thought so!

Here's what you need:

streamers

hole punches

pins

ribbon!

... and ye trusty old glue gun, aluminum foil and cardboard (all of which weren't nearly cute enough to take pictures of).

First step or "layer 1" of your prize ribbon is a ruffle of streamer. I shaped mine accordion style into a circle like this:

... and secured the center on top and bottom with a dab of hot glue.

Then I added my layers of circles. First came the scalloped circle (2 in. wide):

Then "layer 2" - a 1 1/4 in. circle punched from cardboard. Mine was saved from the back of an old picture frame.

I wrapped the cardboard circle with aluminum foil:

The last circle layer was punched with a 1" circle punch and says #1 on it. I used white cardstock and a font called "rosewood" for the #1s.

Add each circle to the top of your streamer yo-yo with a dab of hot glue, in order of layer 1, 2 then 3.

Last step, hot glue your ribbons to the back. Use a variety! They are cuter that way. :)

I also added another cardboard circle to the back of the prize ribbon. Gave me something sturdy to hot glue my pin to:

My 4 yo diva wasn't about to let me get away with not making a "girly" one for her, and so I present the frilly girly version:

She proudly wore hers to the banquet!

How cute would these be as Mother's Day gifts? The "girly" ones of course. Or party favors for a baby shower? You could use whatever color theme the nursery is!

And in case you want to know what my son's cake looked like:

He and his uncle (just returned from a 2 yr. mission for our church) decorated it together, because my husband was out of town! It's misleading, but that is indeed a SWEET pizza, made with a sugar cookie base, red icing for the sauce (do you have any idea how much red food coloring that requires? enough to cause hyperactivity, lol), coconut shavings for the cheese, and rolled fondant for the pepperoni and green peppers.

I also gotta show you these cute certificates each boy got with his prize ribbon:

8 comments:

Love this !! I have been wanting to make one of these for awhile. It is a great use for streamers, which are sort of out of fashion for the normal use. Fabulous tutorial, I am glad your creative talents are being used. Blessings to you and your family.

I have been following your blog for sometime and you are amazing! I know that these are "just" Blue and Gold ribbons and certificates, but the boys love winning awards for their talents. I can't wait to see what you come up with for the Pinewood Derby!!

I think these are great...not too girly. I am with you and not embracing scouts easily, it's been a struggle for me. Way to power through it. The pizza cookie is awesome. Many years ago I made something similar for my brother's birthday. We found a dark red icing color from Wilton. It still took a lot!

Been lurking here for some time now. Love all the creativity! Just wanted to let you know that your prize ribbons were the inspiration behind a small project I just finished. We had a joint birthday party for my seven year old and one of his classmates. I saw a very cheap packet of cardstock samples and it was VERY useful. I made the birthday kids "7" ribbon-esque badges and one of a kind, thank-you bookmarks as party favors. They were a hit!Cheap and easy and inspired by your creativity.

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